Communities with pay-as-you-throw are nearly unanimous
in listing consensus building as one of the most important elements of
a successful program. Solid waste planners need to win over key stakeholders-including
residents, elected officials, and others-before design and implementation
of pay-as-you-throw can proceed.

Early in the program design process, solid waste planners typically focus
on generating support in the community for pay-as-you-throw (PAYT). Once
this support has been established, planners can begin their public education
and outreach efforts. Public education refers to providing residents
with details about the new program and explaining how they can participate
in it. In addition, communities in the public education phase often solicit
feedback from residents and other stakeholders about the program. At the
consensus-building stage, the objective is to increase public acceptance
of PAYT and lay the foundation for the design work to follow.

Municipalities typically schedule their consensus-building
work to begin at least 9 months before program implementation. Planners
usually begin this work by considering the specific groups to involve,
the messages that need to be delivered, and the ways in which these individuals
and organizations can be reached. When seeking to build a consensus for
PAYT, communities often focus on residents, elected officials, municipal
officials, and private organizations (including businesses and haulers).

Residents

Because residents are the ones who are most affected by a PAYT program,
their support is vital. To build a consensus among residents, planners
can begin by gauging their level of awareness of the solid waste issues
facing the community. Do they have concerns about the current approach
to solid waste management? Are they concerned about what these services
cost, both now and in the future, and whether they will have any control
over them? Do they think that paying a variable rate for trash services
might help bring these costs under control? Understanding their perspective
will help planners craft a successful consensus-building approach. It
also will prove valuable when decisions need to be made about how the
new program will work.

Some residents may react with skepticism when they first hear about
PAYT. Initial opposition is often related to a perception that the program
will result in an additional financial burden. Opposition also typically
stems from a natural resistance to change. In addition, communities in
which solid waste management costs are hidden in property taxes may also
face an initial lack of support for variable-rate fees. Because they have
never paid for trash services directly, residents in these communities
might view these fees as simply a new tax.

To counter this opposition, planners can inform residents of the current
difficulties associated with solid waste management. Often, the environmental,
economic, and equity costs to residents of the current waste management
approach are emphasized. Next, they can present the goals
they have set for improving the management of waste in the community.
In this context, planners can introduce PAYT, discuss its potential for
meeting these objectives, and address any questions and concerns that
residents have expressed about the new program.

Winning community support for the new program often hinges on explaining
how it will help address the local issues of greatest interest to residents.
Residents naturally develop a sense of civic pride in programs that focus
on such principles as:

Equity. Residents who prevent waste, recycle, and compost can
save money under a PAYT program.

Waste reduction. PAYT typically reduces a community's generation
of waste and increases its rate of recycling-thereby reducing the amount
of waste sent to landfills or combustors.

Reductions in waste management costs. By promoting changes
in household waste generation patterns, PAYT can help reduce the cost
of collecting and disposing of a community's solid waste. This may free
up funds for other important municipal services.

Municipal improvements. PAYT can contribute to improvements
in the quality of life in a community by conserving resources and resolving
solid waste management issues.

Elected officials

Elected officials, such as a mayor, town councilors, and selectmen or
aldermen, are important contacts for consensus building. Typically, elected
officials consider PAYT in terms of how it will be received by their most
important constituency: community residents. Planners able to demonstrate
an effective consensus-building plan for residents are often able to win
the support of elected officials.

To build a consensus among elected officials, planners often consider
the potential barriers to PAYT from their perspective. For example, elected
officials may be concerned about their authority to change the community's
current financial or administrative and staffing
arrangements concerning solid waste management. Elected officials and
planners together may need to enact specific ordinances
to clear the way for the new program. Planners also typically need to
show elected officials the measures they will take to ensure that illegal
diversion, including dumping or backyard burning of trash, will not
be an issue. Throughout the consensus-building process, planners need
to remain aware of what is at stake for elected officials. This can make
it easier to convince them to support PAYT.

Municipal staff

Because they are involved in carrying out the day-to-day work of managing
trash, public works, solid waste, and other municipal department staff
are important. Winning them over will help ensure that daily operations
run smoothly and consistently. In addition, their opinions about PAYT
matter, both to elected officials and residents. To earn their support,
planners often gather information about their potential concerns and adjust
the new program in response.

Private sector

Planners in cities and towns served by private waste haulers often design
a program that takes their concerns into account. In most cases, these
haulers are very interested in providing input about the community's proposed
program. Soliciting the advice of private haulers early in the planning
and design phases may result in fewer problems later on in such important
areas as enforcement, monitoring
and evaluation, providing recycling and other
complementary programs, and servicing the elderly, low-income residents,
and other special populations.

If a community plans to sell bags, tags, or stickers through local retailers,
outreach to local businesses also may be needed. For retailers, the principal
issue will be whether to give up valuable shelf or floor space for these
items. Frequently, however, retailers appreciate the potential advantages
of stocking an item that most everyone in the community will be purchasing
on a regular basis.

Outreach techniques

After deciding which key stakeholders to involve and the kinds of information
to communicate, planners often consider the ways in which they can reach
these groups. Some of the methods for delivering information about PAYT
include:

Public meetings. Planners often arrange public meetings with
stakeholders to present the solid waste goals for the community and
discuss how PAYT can help meet them. These meetings encourage individuals
representing many different perspectives to consider and comment on
the proposed program.

Briefings for elected officials. To present the rationale behind
the new program to elected officials, planners often prepare presentations
or briefing papers. The briefing might simply summarize the current
issues surrounding solid waste management and the benefits of PAYT.

Press releases. Press coverage of a change in the way solid
waste is managed and paid for is likely. Planners often move to shape
this coverage by keeping key radio, local television, and newspaper
outlets well informed of the need for PAYT. This makes the press a valuable
participant in the decision-making process and a key player in preparing
the community for the upcoming change.

Task force. In many communities, planners
create a task force on PAYT. Part focus group and part decision-making
body, a task force often consists of such key stakeholders as members
of local neighborhood and civic groups, community volunteers and organizers,
and other residents; solid waste agency staff; elected officials; and
representatives from affected businesses in the community.

These groups can help planners in several important ways. They can
help prioritize and refine program goals and make key program design
decisions on which all stakeholders can agree. Task force members
also can be important for consensus building. Once they have agreed
on the need for PAYT, members of these groups can help explain to
others in the community why the new program is needed. Task force
members also can be instrumental in helping other residents in the
community understand the specifics of the program as it evolves.

In addition, the workbook found in the Pay-As-You-Throw
Tool Kit contains a sample agenda, overheads, and other resources
to help planners assemble presentations for residents at public meetings
or to be delivered directly to elected officials.

For answers to questions about generating support for a PAYT program,
visit consensus building in the Frequent Questions section of this Web site.